


Watcher

by CallMeNettie



Category: Hey Arnold
Genre: F/M, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-22 18:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12488600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeNettie/pseuds/CallMeNettie
Summary: He sits and watches his one true love, never letting on his secret obsession. In his mind the only thing that stands between him and Helga is Arnold.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, come join me as I make my first attempt at writing a suspense thriller. I hope it keeps you guessing. I'll be posting a chapter every couple of days with the final reveal on Halloween night. Enjoy..........

Carefree, that’s how he feels as he walks along. It’s a bright day for the middle of October. A few puffy clouds dot the blue sky. If it wasn’t for the slight chill in the air the month could pass for early June. He strolls casually through the park on this Saturday because he knows that there’s a good chance she will be here sooner or later, for this is her place of inspiration. A pair of high tech binoculars and a powerful camera hang from his neck along with a laminated guide from the Audubon Society, the kind that helps you to identify over 50 breeds of birds in the Pacific Northwest area. Bird watching. He thinks this a good cover, it explains the reason for walking through a park with binoculars and camera, because the last thing he needed was to be pegged a perv for watching little kids as they play. Plus, you can bird watch anywhere. That’s the good thing about birds, they are everywhere. So this is why he doesn’t mind being labeled “The Bird Kid”, or “The Binocular Dude” by the city’s inhabitants. Yep, the perfect cover. 

She’s later than normal and he wonders if she’s even going to show. It’s not every Saturday that she comes to the park, only on those occasions when inspiration is low. If she doesn’t arrive by 1:00 then he knows she will not show and he’ll have to go looking for her. Fidgeting with the dials on his camera he spots a blur of pink in the distance. It’s her, she’s smiling and running from something, or someone. His gaze moves slightly to his right and he sees him. HIM, the bane of his existence. Oh how he hated Arnold. Always at the forefront of her affections. Ever since they were kids she’s held this infatuation for him. It wasn’t so bad when they were younger, back in the old PS 118 days, because Arnold didn’t return the affection. Nope, his mind was always on some other girl. He would have felt bad for Arnold, always getting shot down if it wasn’t for the fact that this boy was the sole reason that she never even considered liking anyone else. The unrequited love between the two of them actually gave him hope that he could, in some way, win her heart. 

But, as they grew, Arnold started to notice her more. As she filled out so did Arnold’s observations of her. He noticed the boy taking an interest in her and it angered him, and when that fate full day in eighth grade came when they both discovered they had feelings for each other he knew things were not going to be easy. They’ve been practically inseparable ever since, making his job much harder.

So now he sits, four years later, on a park bench and watches as the two play chase like two school kids on a playground. Arnold is faster than her and catches her arm, stopping her momentum. Both laughing he pulls her in for a kiss. They stand embraced, oblivious to him and everyone else around them as his classmate’s lips press into hers. The kiss is lingering and he wonders what they taste like. He wonders what it would be like to have his tongue be the one searching her mouth, his hands caressing her back. 

They break the kiss now and stare into each other’s eyes. The flush of her cheeks adds a beauty to her already perfect face. He takes the opportunity to capture this look. Raising his camera he zooms in, careful not to get too much of the Other’s face in the picture. He pulls the image in so close he feels he can almost touch her. Her blue eyes sparkle as she looks adoringly into the face of that boy. An angelic smile forms serenely on her lips. He snaps the picture knowing that later he can perhaps photo shop his own image staring back at her. 

Over time he’s become very adept at all things electronic. Photo shop? A breeze. Wire taping? Heh, child’s play. Voice manipulation? Piece of cake. They say that sometimes with insanity comes genius. In this case that was indeed true. You wouldn’t think so to look at him though. His grades surely never reflected it. There was no challenge for him at school which in turn made him grow bored with it. He could have excelled if he’d wanted to. Tests were no big deal to him, could have aced every one of them but if he had then the topic of skipping grades would have come up and this would never do. He liked his spot, following right along with her as they advanced from grade to grade. He liked being among her peers, never a key player in the group but more a background player where he could observe unnoticed. Yep, just another member of the gang who just happens to harbor a secret longing.

After an hour of following the two around he realizes that he’s probably gotten the best shots he’s going to today so he heads towards the front entrance of the park leaving the two behind. He heads for home and awaits the night where darkness offers him the ability to move about the streets unseen.

 

Part 2

Under the cover of darkness he slips away from his house and makes his way down the street careful not to accidentally run into anyone that could pin point his whereabouts if the information should ever be needed. He wears a backpack containing his camera which is still fitted with the zoom lens from this afternoon. He slowly walks in the direction of the Sunset Arms boarding house. It’s a Saturday night and from all his observations he knows that this is where the couple will eventually come to after whatever date they may have planned for the evening. 

He stops at the building that sits opposite the alley way between it and the boarding house. The building sits one floor higher than the place Arnold calls home which makes it the tallest building on the block. There is a fire escape that mirrors the one that leads up to the roof top of Arnold’s home. Parallel to the boarding house roof sits the top floor of this particular building. There are two corner windows, one that looks towards the street, and one that looks directly over the other building’s roof. Sitting atop that other roof is a dome of glass that caps Arnold’s bedroom and he has a perfect view inside said room. 

The ground floor consists of various small businesses. One of which is Green’s Meats. One day he became curious about the top corner room and he asked Mr. Green about it. He was told that it was an apartment that, for reasons that were unknown to him, sat empty and unused. As far as Mr. Green could remember he didn’t think anyone has occupied it for years. It just sits there, locked and unnoticed by most passersby. 

Upon hearing this the boy took it upon himself to check the situation out so one night, under the usual cover of darkness, he climbed the fire escape and jimmied the window open. Upon entering the room he discovered it to indeed be a small, abandoned apartment. There wasn’t much to it, a bathroom, a small kitchenette and a small bedroom. One feature that did catch his attention was a nice size walk-in closet in the bedroom. It had a door that shut tight with a built-in vanity. He tried turning on the closet light and was happy to see that the apartment still had electricity running to it. 

Leaving the bedroom he looks at his surroundings. He notices an overstuffed chair and a small side table had been left behind. They were covered in the dust of many forgotten years but upon sitting in the chair he found it to still be quite comfortable. Moving to the kitchen he tried the old gas stove. It ignited but he doubted he’d ever use it lest he risk drawing attention to himself. He walks back to the living room and peers out the window which faces the boarding house roof. He is happy with his view into Arnold’s bedroom and knows that he’s found his lair. 

Now, making sure no one is lurking about, he quietly climbs the fire escape to his little haven. He enters the bedroom closet, which is now his dark room. There are two sets of lights to that room and he’s equipped one with a set of red lights to aid him during the developing process. He sets out the chemicals he will need for tonight’s work then turns to look at the wall behind him. It is lined with pictures of the girl. Starting from around fifth grade advancing to present time. At first the pictures are just snapshots taken with disposable cameras and brought to the local drug store for developing. They are a rudimentary mix of group shots and single images of just her. To the normal person developing the pictures the roll would look like nothing more than some parent’s collection of memories of their child and her friends. It was when he hit middle school where he developed his own talents as a photographer. 

As his talent grew word spread around campus and he found himself offered the job as school photographer. He jumped at the chance because as the only one responsible for documenting the school year through pictures he had a built in excuse to always have his camera with him. He talked the principal into letting him use his own 35mm camera instead of the school’s digital one saying that his pictures would come out much better and besides, he could always transfer the images to digital afterwards. It wasn’t until he proved his point by showing the principal sample pictures that he’d developed on his own and comparing them to the digital ones, that he was given the okay to use his own stuff. 

Right now, though, he waits and watches. The room is quiet. He doesn’t like too much quiet, because it’s in the quiet that he hears the voices, and it’s the voices that urge him on. They have him convinced that if he’s ever going to have his chance with the girl then something is going to have to be done about the Other. So in his waiting he plots. Always watching for the perfect opportunity to show itself. He hasn’t figured out just yet what to do, but he can feel that the time is drawing near and that soon Arnold will no longer be a problem.


	2. Chapter 2

Unless he was mistaken the couple should be making their way to Arnold’s room any time now. He knew they were meeting up with Gerald and Phoebe for dinner and a 9:00 movie. With it now being near 11:30 they should most definitely be on their way. He thinks about how predictable the young couple is. Always making some type of Saturday plans which always end with the two sneaking up the boarding houses’ fire escape so as to enter his bedroom unnoticed. He doesn’t always come to watch their night time frolics, most times he comes to visit the little dark room he’s made out of the walk-in closet. But tonight his lust for her got the better of him so here he is. He’s glad it’s a full moon. Its light not only makes for better pictures, it also makes it easier for him to see around the dark apartment. 

After another twenty minutes of waiting they finally arrive. He watches them climb the fire escape as the adrenaline begins to pump through his veins. His heart starts to beat a little faster as he adjusts the aperture on his camera to a low light setting. Once in the room Arnold turns on a small bed side lamp. “Excellent.” He thinks to himself. The bedside lamp always provides his pictures with a soft glow. 

They start to kiss and he watches as they tear at each other’s clothes. She unzips his jeans and her hand disappears beneath the waistband. He brings his hands up under her top and with one smooth motion he pulls it up over her head, dropping it to the floor. Once the last bit of clothing is removed they stand embracing, she hooks one leg over his hip and throws her head back as Arnold grinds against her. This fires his imagination and he pictures himself being the one pushing into her. He can almost feel the warmth that emits from her as she hoists her leg around him. The boy picks her up now placing her on the bed. 

“Ahhh,” he thinks to himself as he steadies his camera and gets a perfect shot of her before Arnold blocks his view with his body. She lays stretched out on his bed, her hands lay palms up, on either side of her head, her hair tangled in her fingers. Her body writhes a bit, slightly arching her hips up towards him. The bedside lamp bathes her in light. He takes the picture as his body starts to wake up. Not one to get off watching as another man defiles the object of his affection he only occasionally glances over to the couple in hopes of getting a clearer shot of her. 

As he steals glimpses of the two of them his desire for her becomes too much to ignore. He moves over to the big chair that sits in the otherwise empty room. There is a pink scarf hung over one arm. She unwittingly dropped it last spring and he was quick to pick it up. Even after all those months it still carried her scent. It was faint but if he closed his eyes and concentrated hard he could find it. He sits back in that chair, scarf held close to his face as he reaches down with his free hand. It’s a sad substitute for the real thing but it does the job and it’s the vision of her face in his mind that brings him satisfaction. 

When he’s done he goes back to the window to survey the situation but there would be no more pictures tonight as she has pulled the covers over them after they have finished and it looked like there they would stay until morning. 

Having to be happy that he got at least one good shot he heads to the darkroom.

He preferred taking pictures the old fashioned way. Digital cameras were okay, but didn’t give him the excitement of watching as the negatives slowly came to life under the developing fluid. Digital was too sterile in his opinion and he preferred getting his hands dirty. He looks at the pictures he’s taken over the last couple of days. Most are not very good and will be shredded when he gets back home. But there are two that take his breath away. The first is the shot of her at the park. There is so much depth of feeling to her look as she stares up into the eyes of the one she loves. The blush of her cheeks adds an innocent quality as her blonde hair frames her face. He looks at the boy which stares back at her and he plots of ways to be rid of this obstacle once and for all. But how? This is something he must think long and hard on. 

The second picture that catches his eye is one he took a little over a week ago. An image of her caught in a state of high arousal. She leans back on the bed, her upper body supported by her elbows as she peers up through half lidded eyes. A smile on her face that is filled with lust. He imagines that lust directed towards him. The flush of her cheeks extend down to her chest which is caught in mid heave giving away how deeply she is breathing at this moment. His eyes scan her body, the flawless flesh, her legs spread slightly apart. Arnold’s body casts a shadow across part of her but that’s of no bother. As long as no face is seen he can always imagine that it is him that hovers over her. 

Satisfied with his two treasures he hangs them on the wall among all his other trophies and makes his way out of the apartment. He’s careful not to make noise as he climbs down the fire escape and silently slips back into the night.

 

Part 2

Monday has come and with the weekend behind them the kids sit around the lunch tables at school discussing Rhonda’s upcoming Halloween party. As usual, in her mind at least, the party will be the talk of the town. He sits quietly in the background listening to the chatter as the subject of costumes comes up. She’s been throwing these parties ever since the fifth grade, the grade where his attraction for Helga really started to grow. He played it cool, though, fooling everyone. Never once even hinting of his desire for her. No one would ever suspect the flame that burned deep inside of him. And now here they were, their final year together as classmates. It was now or never if he was going to get his chance with Helga before college took her away from him.

“I will be going as Cleopatra this year.” Rhonda advises the crowd. “I think my dark hair is just perfect for the look.” She looks over to Harold. “And you shall be my Anthony.”

“Awwww,” Harold bellows, “I don’t want to be no stupid Anthony. I want to be something cool!”

Phoebe looks over to Gerald who says, “We’re going as Sandy and Danny from Grease.” He looks at his girlfriend and wiggles his eyebrows as then says, “I can’t wait to see Phoebe in those tight leather pants Sandy wears at the end of the movie.”

A blush immediately rises in Phoebe’s cheeks. “Yeah? Well you’ll make a pretty sexy Danny yourself.”

Rhonda now turns her attention to Helga. “And what are you and Arnold going as this year?”

A smile comes over her face as she looks at Arnold. “We are going as Sir Lancelot and the beautiful Lady Guinevere. We were even able to dig up a chain mail suit for Arnold to wear!”

Arnold rolls his eyes. “Yeah, and it’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever put on.”

“Oh, but you don’t mind wearing it for meee, do you?” Helga says as she gives him a flirtatious look. 

Arnold ruffles up her hair and says, “Of course not, Dear, anything for you.”

He watches this exchange from the back of the group and cringes to himself. “Disgusting.” He thinks, but he is intrigued by the fact that Arnold will be wearing a heavy suit made of metal.

Attention is turned towards him now as Rhonda asks, “You’ll be there, right?”

“Moi?” He answers coolly. 

“Of course you, after all, you take the best pictures of anyone here. I’ll need your expertise to document my grand party.”

“Well then I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Good.” Rhonda says with satisfaction, and for the rest of the lunch period he sits, quietly forgotten once again.

On his way home that afternoon he decides to make a stop at his hideaway. He hides in the alleyway waiting for a lull in the street traffic. Once he’s satisfied that the coast is clear he scurries up the fire escape and disappears through the window. He is careless though and doesn’t close it completely leaving just enough room for the breeze to move the drawn curtain ever so slightly. 

He sits in the big chair looking through some old pictures he’s taken, trying to decide which to keep and which to shred when he hears her voice from across the alley. Getting up he flattens his body against the wall and with one finger barely moves the side of the curtain from the window. He peeks out to see her and Arnold, joined by Phoebe and Gerald up on the boarding house roof. The wind carries their voices his way and he strains to listen. He can only hear a word here and there but from what he can hear he gathers that they are talking about Rhonda’s party. His curiosity gets the better of him and he lifts the window a little higher. Noticing that the breeze is making the curtains waver he hastily closes the window making more noise than he would have liked. The sound catches Helga’s attention and she looks up. She thinks she sees a flash of a shadow moving back from the window. The movement is quick so she’s not sure if it’s her imagination or not but a creepy feeling flows through her none the less, a sort of intuition if you will. 

“Did you guys see that?” She says, pointing to the window.

“See what?” Gerald asks as he follows the direction of her finger.

“That window, I swear I saw something move away from the window.”

Arnold looks up but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Must be your imagination, Helga, that’s just some old storage room that hasn’t been used in years. I don’t even know if the landlord even has a key for it.”

“I don’t know.” Helga says unconvinced. I could have sworn…..”

“It was probably just a shadow from a passing bird or something.” Phoebe said, providing a rational explanation.

“Well, maybe.” Helga concedes, but deep down she’s still not sure.


	3. Chapter 3

Roughly three days have passed since the incident on the roof top. Helga sits up in Arnold’s bed, sheets pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her bent knees, as he softly snores besides her. The room is dark save for the moonlight that filters through the windows that top his room. This is the first time that she’s realized that you can see the window from the neighboring building. She studies that window now as an uneasy feeling builds within her. It’s dark on the other side of it and there is no movement, but ever since that afternoon a few days ago she’s started getting the feeling that she’s being watched. She knows it’s all in her imagination, after all, who would find her so interesting that they have to sneak around spying on her. The thought did cross her mind that it could be Arnold that’s the center of some deprived girl’s attention but didn’t really think that to be so. What it really was, she thought, was her imagination running wild. What with it almost being Halloween, and all over the TV and movies were shows about psycho killers and deadly clowns and such. “Yep,” she thinks, “that’s got to be it.” 

She gently nudges Arnold, waking him up, telling him that she’s going to head on home. He rubs his sleepy eyes before pulling her down to him.

“Okay, I’ll let you go, but I want a proper good-bye first.” He says.

He rolls on top of her and she watches the window over his shoulder, never taking her eyes off of it. 

A couple of blocks away he sits crossed legged on his bed, an array of pictures spread out in front of him. They range from group shots of the whole gang to images of her alone. The one thing they have in common is that they are all taken secretively. One of his favorites is of her with her best friend. They sit at a lunch table laughing. The look on her face is carefree as her eyes sparkle. Her nose crinkles slightly when she finds something really funny, which is something that he finds adorable. Phoebe must have said something truly witty because she has that nose crinkling smile in this picture. There are some shots of her with HIM. Most of those have his face crossed out with a black marker. In a few the face is either cut out completely or he has photo shopped his own over it. 

He picks up one particular picture that catches his eye. It’s one that’s been taken from the apartment window when she was at Arnold’s for one of their rendezvous. She’s standing at the roof top wall looking out over the city. She’s wearing one of Arnold’s shirts. It goes just far enough down her body so nothing shows. It’s held closed by only one or two buttons. Her face is serene and contemplative. It’s dark and her body is lit up from behind by the lights from Arnold’s room. The light hits her from the back and her face is cast in the shadow her own body creates. He separates this from the rest of the pack. He plans on making this a new addition to the darkroom pictures back at the apartment. 

He gathers all the others, placing them in a box that he hides deep in his closet. Climbing into bed he turns out the light and thinks about Rhonda’s party and Arnold’s Chain Mail suit.

 

Part 2

Saturday evening had finally come. Rhonda has recruited Nadine and Sheena to help set things up. Her parents, as usual, have spared no expense on decorations. The front yard has been turned into a graveyard. The lush lawns that border both sides of the long driveway are dotted with various gravestones. Spider webbing hangs from the trees. Hidden in the plants are pairs of green lights that blink on and off as if you are being watched by the creatures of the night. There is a looped recording of night sounds, a hooting owl, leaves being stirred up in a night breeze and whispers. Quiet voices that seem to follow you as you walk the grounds. 

As you enter the house the foyer is bathed in fog, the decorations shrouded in cobwebs. The normal pictures that hang on the walls have been replaced with old fashioned portraits of unknown people. The hologram eyes seem to follow you no matter where you walk in the room. You are greeted at the door by a butler who looks as if he died at least a decade ago. 

He leads you to a set of double doors. They vibrate slightly with the beat of the turned up bass that plays in the room beyond. As he opens the doors you enter a darkened room that has been cleared of furniture. A dancefloor has been set up in the middle of the room. Off to one side a hired DJ plays tunes whose beat beckons the guests onto the dancefloor. There are multicolored lights that strobe and flash. Lining the other side of the dancefloor is a spread of food and drink fit for a king and his court. Being underage the large punchbowl sits filled with a benign red punch. This, however will not stay that way once Wolfgang and his friends have their way with it. Within the hour the real party will begin. There are tall, round tables set up for placing cups and food plates but no chairs. The idea is not to have the guests sitting around, but to encourage them to dance and mingle. 

At the far end of the room are two sets of French doors that lead to the backyard. A series of speakers dot the walls of the house, pumping the music to the guests that choose to be outside. The atmosphere is a bit more subdued out back. The music not quite as loud. The lights are dimmed. The large lawn is circled with tiki torches, their golden flames illuminate a center filled with various lawn games.

Towards the back of the yard is a large pool. At one end the water starts out shallow, only two feet deep and as you advance towards the deep end the floor gently slopes downward to a final depth of twelve feet. The pool is lined with a deep blue plaster which in the daylight turns the water what they call a Tahoe Blue. At night though the water is dark and gives the impression that there is no bottom. 

He is already there by the time Arnold and Helga arrive. He blends in with the other guests and they don’t notice him as they enter the house. He notices her though. She is dressed in a flowing gown of pink gossamer. Its floor length and wafts around her. Her hair is picked up in a bun that sits at the back of her head. Delicate curled tendrils hang from the bun lining her face and trailing down the back of her neck. Surrounding the bun is a ring of small pink tea roses and baby’s breath. The sleeves puff at the shoulders then hug her arms as they follow them downward, ending in a point that trails halfway down her longest finger. 

She is accompanied by HIM. He walks next to her, his arm placed around her waist. He smiles as the other guests greet them as if he’s Mr. Popular. Helga wasn’t kidding though when she said they had found an actual medieval chain mail suit for him to wear. From head to toe he was covered in a heavy metal mesh. It was a separate top and bottom with a head piece and hung down to his shoulders. It looked hot and cumbersome. The whole outfit had to weigh at least 60 pounds. The awkwardness of it was something that could easily throw him off balance.

Taking his camera he went in to photographer mode and inched his way towards the couple. He would spend the night milling about in the background, watching and waiting. He watched as Arnold filled two red cups with the now spiked punch. After the couple’s second cup they started to feel the effects of the tainted liquid and with inhibitions lowered made their way to the dancefloor. The beat of the music has an almost primal feel to it. His costume prevents him from moving about freely but she takes no notice as she gyrates around him. One hand holds her red plastic cup as the other raises above her head. She follows the beat of the music as Arnold grabs her at the waist and pulls her in close to him. They spend the next hour dancing, or more her dancing and Arnold doing the best he can to just move about, only stopping once to quickly catch their breath and have a third cup of punch. 

 

Part 3

After an hour or so of dancing they are exhausted and in need of a break, Arnold refills their cups once more and they make their way outside for some fresh air. Most of the other guests had the same idea and they found it to be crowded. The couple spots a small group hanging out by the pool. Gerald and Phoebe are there decked out like the stars of Grease, Phoebe wears a blonde wig and pants so tight you can’t tell if they are actually pants or her skin. Next to them are Harold and Rhonda. Arnold and Helga work their way through the crowd and join the foursome. He makes his way towards their vicinity, stopping every now and then to take pictures. After a bit a drunk Eugene and Sid come out to the patio and declare a dance off. A large crowd gathers as the volume of the music is turned up. The two boys take turns taunting each other with their moves. The crowd grows thicker as the noise gets louder. 

He notices that Arnold stands at the back of the pack, foolishly standing by the pool’s edge. With everyone’s attention on the two dancers he sees an opportunity that’s too good to let slip by. He inches his way towards Arnold, making sure no one is watching. The crowd moves with the music as they urge the competing dancers on. He can tell Arnold is not very steady on his feet and uses it to his advantage. One of the dancers must have made a particularly impressive move because the crowd goes crazy cheering them on and jumping about. He seizes the moment now and with no one looking he gives Arnold a push into the pool’s deep end before quickly stepping away. The helmet Arnold wears blocks his peripheral vision and he never saw who hit him.  
Arnold’s hand flails out grasping for anything he can find to stop his fall. His hand brushes against Helga’s arm and she turns just in time to see him hit the water. The Chain Mail acts as an anchor and pulls him downward. He drifted down for what seemed like an eternity. When he hit the bottom the suit made him feel claustrophobic and the first thing he did was to tear the heavy helmet off his head. It was dark at the bottom of the pool, and eerily quiet. It was also deep. Deep enough to make his ears pop as he held his breath. He wasn’t sure how long he would be able to hold on to that small amount of life saving air. Unfortunately, since the fall had come as a shock the breath in he did take was shallow and quick. He struggled to push himself up off the pool’s bottom but it was no use. He could barely lift his upper body off of the floor so, changing course, he started to drag himself along the bottom towards shallow water. His lungs were starting to rebel from the lack of oxygen and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. He was starting to get light headed when he heard a commotion above him. He tried to hold on but soon his light headedness turned to dizziness. With his body giving out he let go, breathing out what little air was left in his lungs. He passed out right before his rescuers could get to him.

Helga screams as she watches the love of her life disappear beneath the surface of the water. The noise from the crowd and music stifle her yells. In a panic she grabs Gerald. It takes a few moments to get his full attention but she finally does and tells him what’s happened. He in turn grabs Harold and the two boys jump into the pool after their friend. When they hit the water they were met with darkness all around them. They had jumped towards the spot where Helga had pointed so they prayed that Arnold was right below them. They dove down and when they reached the bottom and Arnold wasn’t there they panicked. 

Rhonda runs up to the house where the light switches are for the pool. She flips them on hoping they provide enough light for the boys to get to Arnold in time. By now word has spread and the crowd’s attention turns towards the pool. A few of the other boys jump into the water to lend their assistance.

They finally find Arnold twelve feet down, laying on the pool’s floor. It looked like his head piece had slipped off and you could tell he had been trying to crawl towards the shallow end but the suit was just too heavy. The guys make it to him but he and the suit are just too much for them to lift to the surface. Seeing this more people jump in to help. They circle around him, lifting him upwards to the surface.

Helga runs into the shallow part of the pool and starts walking towards the boys. As she gets into deeper water her dress flows out around her. She swims to the boys to try to help but there is really nothing she can do. 

They float him on his back with his face out of the water to the shallow end and it is obvious that he is not breathing. By now a large group has accumulated and help to heave Arnold onto dry land, pulling off the heavy metal top. He himself has joined the rescue party, just the right amount of concern on his face to blend in. Helga kneels down beside Arnold’s lifeless body crying hysterically. It’s Phoebe that jumps into action giving him lifesaving mouth to mouth. 

Someone has called an ambulance and the approaching sirens can be heard over the din of the crowd. Phoebe doesn’t let up and to everyone’s relief Arnold begins coughing. Phoebe rolls him on his side so he doesn’t choke on the water that pours from his mouth. 

The paramedics arrive now and take over. Thanks to the quick work of the guys, and Phoebe’s knowledge of CPR, he is going to be ok but as a precaution he is taken by ambulance to the hospital. Gerald and Phoebe take Helga with them as they follow the ambulance.

With a dark cloud now hanging over the party the guests slowly start leaving. He mills out unnoticed with the rest of the crowd, trusty camera slung over his shoulder. He was angered at his failed attempt to be rid of Arnold, but anxious to see the few pictures he was able take of boy’s near death experience.


	4. Chapter 4

Later in the afternoon, on the day after Rhonda’s party, Arnold sits up in his hospital bed. He is joined by Helga, who sits next to him. His grandparents sit in chairs close by. With the four of them is a detective from the Hillwood Police Dept. At first the incident was labeled a mere accident brought on by a not too bright teenager in a metal suit combined with four cups of Wolfgang’s special party cocktail. But, once Arnold mentioned the feeling of purposely being pushed Rhonda’s backyard became a crime scene with Arnold as the intended victim. 

The detective questions Arnold repeatedly always receiving the same answers. 

Frustrated, Arnold answers the detective yet again. “Like I’ve already said, I remember us all being out back. The music was turned up and a drunk Sid and Eugene were in the middle of some crazy dance off. It was crowded and everyone’s attention was on the guys when Eugene made some wild dance move and the crowd went berserk, cheering and yelling. That’s when I felt what seemed to be an arm hit my stomach and push me back into the deep end of the pool. After that all I remember is that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t swim up to the surface. My costume was weighing me down. I tried to slip out of it and couldn’t so I tried to make my way to the shallow end, but before I could I guess I passed out.”

It took effort to speak and after he finished talking a coughing spasm came on and he had to stop.

With a worried look on her face and tears in her eyes all Helga could do is rub his back until the coughing subsided. 

The detective turned his attention to Helga now and asked, once again, for her version of the story.

“Well,” she starts, “it’s like Arnold said. We were all watching Sid and Eugene act like morons in front of everybody. Arnold was in back of me. After a bit I heard him give a yell and felt his hand grab at my arm but slip away. I turned to see him fall into the pool. My full attention was on him so I didn’t notice anyone running away or anything. It was awful, the pool was dark and the water was so deep I couldn’t see the bottom until Rhonda finally turned on the lights. When she did there was Arnold, barely moving on the bottom of the deep end.”

She’s crying profusely and now it’s Arnold’s turn to comfort her.

Through sobs she continues. “While Rhonda ran to turn on the lights I got the attention of Gerald and he got Harold and they jumped in to get him, then a few other guys jumped in after to help. I knew I wouldn’t be of any help in lifting him so I ran to the shallow end to help drag him out. I guess I kinda lost it cause when the guys finally got him onto the pool deck I couldn’t function. All I could do was cry. Thank God Phoebe had her wits about her. It’s because of her quick acting that Arnold’s alive right now.”

She turns to Arnold, the sorrow in her voice is heartbreaking. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be the one to save you. My inaction could have caused you your life if Phoebe hadn’t of been there.”

He pulls her close to him telling her that it’s okay, trying his best to calm her down.

After two long hours of questioning the detective says he will get in touch with them if he has any more questions. Shortly after he leaves the doctor comes in giving Arnold his release orders, telling him he’s okay to go home but will have to take it easy for at least a week. His lungs suffered quite a trauma and would need time to heal. 

Once back at the boarding house Helga leads Arnold to his room and tucks him into bed. She sits with him keeping him company. They talk about the previous night, running through it over and over, trying to think of anything they could have missed. Every now and then Arnold goes into one of his coughing fits and all they can do is sit and wait for it to pass. They try to recall who was standing around them and what they were doing but it was no use. They kept coming up with the same scenario, Sid and Eugene jumping around, encircled by a crowd of their peers, all attention on them. 

“I don’t know, Helga.” Arnold says through a small cough. “I just can’t think of why anyone would purposely push me into the pool. Especially knowing full well that I was in a metal suit.”

Helga’s eyes glance up across the alley to the dark window, a shudder runs down her spine. “I know, I can’t think of anyone either. You haven’t pissed anyone off lately have you?”

“Not that I know of, but even so, I can’t imaging ever pissing anyone off so bad that they’d want to kill me.”

“Maybe it was just an accident.” Helga says, trying to convince herself.

Arnold begins to nuzzle into her neck now, his hand running up and down her inner thigh. She turns towards him, hooking a leg over his body and straddles him as they start to kiss. His hands run up her back and he starts to lift off her shirt. That feeling of being watched comes back to her. She thinks of the window that gazes down upon them and freezes. She slides off Arnold and pulls her shirt back down.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, his face is flushed and he’s breathing hard.

“I just remembered that your doctor said for you to take it easy and I don’t think a romp in the sheets right now is the best thing for you is all.”

He starts to complain that he’s okay when another coughing fit hits him.

“See!” Helga says. “Besides, you really should rest. I’m going to head home. I’ll see you after school tomorrow. Okay?”

She places a small kiss on his forehead and heads for the door.

Reluctant to let her go Arnold agrees and watches as she walks to his bedroom door, gently closing it behind her.

 

Part 2

 

She exits the boarding house and sits on the front steps. She covers her face with her hands and starts to cry. She can’t get the image of Arnold laying at the bottom of Rhonda’s pool out of her mind. The “What If’s” start running through her head. What If Arnold’s hand hadn’t brushed her arm as he fell and she didn’t notice he was gone? What if it were only the two of them out back when he fell, how would she have gotten him out? What if Phoebe weren’t right there to start CPR? She didn’t want to be alone right now, and she didn’t want to go home, so she decided to walk over to Phoebe’s house. 

It was late afternoon, the sun was beginning to set and her body cast a long shadow behind her as she walked. She kept looking across the street as she made her way along the sidewalk, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The street was empty and that made her nervous.

As she walked something on the ground caught her eye. There was a small chalkboard sitting outside of the butcher shop forecasting the daily specials. She saw what looked like an old fashioned photograph negative tucked under one of the sign’s legs, obviously dropped and forgotten. She picked it up and held it to what was left of the sun and gazed at it. The negative was badly scratched and with the low light of the setting sun it just looked like a bunch of dark images. Squinting she could barely make out some trees and what she assumed was a bench. There was a figure sitting on it but she couldn’t make out who it was. That feeling of being watched started to creep up her back again and she turned and looked across the street. Suddenly, the door to Green Meats swung opened causing her to drop the negative. The suddenness of it made her jump and give a little scream. Her heart almost jumping out of her chest. She turned wide eyed to see who it was.

“Oh, gee, sorry there Helga. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mr. Green said when he saw the look on her face.

“Oh, no, that’s ok Mr. Green, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention I guess.”

Mr. Green gave her a concerned look, “I heard about what happened last night. How is Arnold doing?”

“He was pretty shook up but he’s better. The doctor says he should be fine in a week or so.”

“Good, good. Maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow and bring the family some nice lamb chops or something.”

“Yeah, sure, I think they’d like that.”

They said their good-byes and Helga scolded herself for being so jumpy. “Man, I gotta get myself together.”

She took off again, this time walking a little faster, forgetting all about the dropped negative. A few minutes later she had made it to Phoebe’s and was laying on her bedroom floor staring at the ceiling. 

“Think again, Pheebs, are you sure you didn’t see anyone near Arnold before he fell in?”

“No, Helga, I’m sure. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know what had happened until I saw you talking to Gerald.”

“I just don’t get it,” Helga says talking to herself out loud, “I just don’t see how someone could get close enough to push Arnold with no one noticing anything.”

“I don’t know, Helga. He did, after all, have four glasses of that spiked punch. Maybe his memory is just playing tricks on him and he just imagined someone pushed him.”

“Maybe.” Helga answered, but she really didn’t think so.

 

Part 3

 

Last night, after the party broke up he made a detour to the apartment. He was eager to see how his pictures came out and needed to get the negatives processed. The neighborhood was quiet and as he climbed up the fire escape he was happy to see the lights were off in Arnold’s room. Free of being watched he slipped through the window. 

He made his way to the makeshift darkroom and closed himself in, then he set to work on developing his pictures. Opening the roll of film he winds it on to a spool which he then places into a canister and replaces the lid, He adds the developing fluid and rotates the container making sure the film is evenly coated. This goes on for a few minutes. The next step is to discard the developer and add the stop fluid. Again he rotates the container for the necessary amount of time. Finally he replaces the stop fluid with the fixer. When done the final step is to rinse the film then hang the strip to dry. Once those steps are completed he will have a strip of negatives that he can then take home and scan onto his computer. The process is slow but if there’s one thing he is, that would have to be patient. 

Turning on the regular lights now he hangs the freshly processed roll of film to dry, then he reaches into his backpack and pulls out the newest prints he’s made and hangs them on the wall. He steps back and admires his work. He looks at the picture of her face that he took in the park. He reaches out and gingerly runs one finger down her cheek. If he closes his eyes he can see that face looking at him. He smiles at the thought of gazing back into her eyes. 

He leaves the darkroom and goes back in to the living room to wait for the strip of negatives to dry. Walking to the chair he sits and lets his mind wander. He thinks back to last night and the few shots he was able to take as they pulled the boy’s lifeless body up to the pool’s surface. His face was ashen and his lips slightly tinged with blue. He pictures Helga as she came walking out of the water. The sheer material of her costume clung to her body accentuating every curve. He was sad that he had to put his camera down when he went to help in the rescue, he would have liked a shot or two of her in that wet dress. Once Arnold was hauled onto the deck she was shaking as she cried hysterically. It made her seem so frail and helpless which excited him. When she dropped down by Arnold’s body he felt sure the boy was a goner. That is until that damn Phoebe had to step in and save him. As she worked on her friend and all the attention was now on them, he slowly backed away to the middle of the group, standing behind Sheena and Brainy he blended in as one of the gang. He watched along with everyone else as the paramedics took him away and Gerald and Phoebe ushered Helga off to go follow them. 

As he continues to sit the silence grows thick around him and the voices start to come. 

“You blew it.” They begin in his head. “You had the perfect opportunity and you blew it.”

Anger starts to rise within him. Partly at himself for not being able to complete the task at hand, and partly at the friends that came to Arnold’s aid and saved the boy.

“You know what you have to do now, don’t you.” The voices say. “You really have no other choice.”

He nods his head to no one and slips his hand into his backpack. There at the very bottom he finds the gun. His fingers brush the cool metal as he sits and schemes. 

When the negative strip is finally dried enough to his satisfaction he packs everything up and heads back down the fire escape. Standing at the edge of the alley way he checks the street and finding no one there he melts into the night and heads for home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everybody!! I do hope The Great Pumpkin was good to you this year. Before we get into the final chapter I have a question. Did anyone happen to notice the very subtle clues I planted in the beginning of the last four chapters then ending with this one? No? Interesting. I’ll tell you more about them at the end of the story, but no skipping ahead! You wouldn’t want to ruin the ending, would you? Also, once you find out who the culprit is, please don’t mention the name in the comments so there’s no spoilers. We should give him a nick name. Come up with a good one and that’s what we’ll use! For now, though, I present to you, the final chapter of Watcher. Please enjoy…………………………

Watcher

Chapter 5

Part 1

 

Yawning, Arnold shakes his head and brings his attention back to the screen at the front of the classroom. The doctor wasn’t kidding when he told Arnold that he’d need at least a week to recover from the ordeal at Rhonda’s. Even after a week he was still finding it hard to concentrate. Helga looks over to him and sees the tired expression on his face and leans in to whisper to him.

“Are you sure you’re well enough to be back at school?”

He looks at her through half lidded eyes and smiles. “I’m fine, just still a little tired.”

The teacher hears their whispers and casting his attention their way, clears his throat. The couple turn their attention back to the front of the room and watch the rest of the video in silence. 

During afternoon break the two sit alone at a small outside table eating their lunch. Neither are very hungry and they poke at their food. Arnold feels as if something is off with Helga and he puts his hand on hers. Now it’s his turn to inquire about her.

“Helga, are you okay?”

She stabs a small cherry tomato out of her salad and looks over to him. “Huh? Uh, yeah, I’m good, why do you ask?”

“Well, it just seems that you’ve been kinda distant since Rhonda’s party. Has anything changed? Are we still okay?”

The question takes her by surprise. Not once in the whole time they’ve been together has she ever questioned their relationship.

“What? Yes! We’re fine. Arnold, I love you, I’ve loved you since we were little kids and I’ll continue to love you even after I’m dead and gone.”

“Then what is it? You’re not yourself.”

“I don’t know. I can’t get Rhonda’s party out of my mind. Seeing you like you were, terrified I had lost you. It’s just……affected me, I guess.”

She doesn’t mention the fact that she still can’t shake the feeling of being watched because she doesn’t want to listen to him tell her that’s it’s just her imagination. 

Feeling that’s all he’s going to get out of her he changes the subject.

“You’re still going to meet up with me and Gerald at the arcade this afternoon after your poetry club meeting, right?”

“Yes, of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

He smiles and gives her a quick kiss. “Good, I think we can use a little down time. Now, I need to make a pit stop before the bell rings so I’ll see you at 4:30, okay?”

“Yep, 4:30 sharp.” She pops the tomato she had stabbed into her mouth and slowly chews it as she watches him walk away. She shivers as the feeling of being watched comes over her again. She gets up to throw her uneaten salad in the trash can, unaware of the figure that stands and watches her through the upper window of one of the art classes in building C.

As the bell rings signaling the end of break the figure disappears from the window. He slips out of the classroom and heads towards his advanced chemistry lab. “What a waste of time.” He mumbles as he thinks of the inane experiments he is forced to do with his equally inane lab partner. How Harold ever even made it into advanced chemistry alludes him. 

He had ordered a supply of developing chemicals which arrived the other day. He’s eager to drop them off at the apartment. And so he sits, pretending to be interested in Harold and their chemistry assignment, biding his time until the end of school.

 

Part 2

The 3:20 bell rings, dismissing school for the day. The hallways are filled with the bustle of students ready to end their day. Helga starts to make her way to her poetry club meeting but just isn’t in the mood so she decides to skip it. She shoots Phoebe a text and without an explanation she tells her she’s not going to make it and she’ll meet her at the arcade later. 

She leaves the campus and starts walking in no general direction, letting her mind wander, trying to make sense of the past couple of weeks. Eventually she finds herself across the street from the boarding house. She stands at the curb looking at the house for a bit and starts to miss her boyfriend. She thinks about heading over to the arcade a little early when the upper window of the neighboring building catches her eye. She decides she needs to know once and for all what lies on the other side. 

She crosses the street and when no one is looking she climbs the fire escape. When she reaches the top floor she tries to open the window and is surprised when she finds that it is unlocked. Sliding it open she lets herself inside. She is careless as she closes the window and leaves it partially open. Once inside her eyes scan the barren room. A large chair sits in the middle of it and she notices something pink hanging off its back. 

Walking to it and taking it in her hand she realizes at once what it is. She wonders what her scarf is doing here. She remembers losing it last spring and the fact that it’s made its way to the abandoned room makes her shiver. The rational side of her tells her to leave right now. Drop the scarf and run for the window. But she is a Pataki, and she is stubborn and needs to know just what’s going on so instead of leaving, she ventures further into the room. 

Her footsteps echo on the hardwood floor, breaking the otherwise silence. Off to one side is a kitchen. The only thing in it is an old stove that looks like it hasn’t cooked a meal in at least a decade or two. In the sink sit empty canisters of some sort. She picks one up and looks at it but has no idea what its intended use is. 

Leaving the kitchen she opens a door that leads to a small bathroom. The lid to the toilet is up and she notices that the inside of the bowl is stained with rust. There is a musty smell to the room so, holding her nose, she leaves, closing the door behind her.

On the other side of the living room is one more door which stands partially open. She enters it to find the room empty. She figures this must be the bedroom. The wallpaper which hangs on the walls is torn in places. Cobwebs fill all four corners. To her right is what she assumes is the closet. Curious she enters and finds herself in total darkness. She reaches for a switch and her fingers find the one that works the set of red darkroom lights. One of the bulbs is loose and gives off a low buzzing as it flickers. Expecting the room to be filled with a bright light she is surprised at the red glow that meets her instead. She notices a vanity and walks over to it. Sitting on top of it are more of the strange canisters she found in the kitchen sink, along with various bottles of some sort of liquids. She picks one up and sees that the label says “Developer”. She puts the bottle down and begins to realize that she is in some kind of photographer’s dark room. She thinks of the abandoned negative outside of the butcher shop and the hairs stand up on her arms.

Turning around she sees the photo laden wall behind her. A hand comes up to her face as a loud gasp escapes from her mouth. There, spread out before her is some sort of timeline of her life depicted in pictures. She starts at the beginning, she is maybe in fifth or sixth grade. There’s shots of her and the gang on the playground playing a rousing game of kickball. There is a single shot of her sitting on a bench, her head turned as she stares longingly at Arnold who sits oblivious to her.

Moving on, the people in the pictures have aged and she is now witnessing her early teen years. There’s a shot of her in a Santa hat smiling, Brainy is holding a sprig of mistletoe over his head. His cheeks are covered in a blush. Arnold stands in the background with an angry look on his face as he observes the two. She deduces that this must have been right before Arnold confessed his true feelings for her. 

Moving along the pictures become more current. They are mostly of her now. There’s pictures of her at the park and at parties. Her eyes grow wide in fear and disgust as she comes across pictures now of her and Arnold in his bedroom. They range from innocent pictures of them sitting doing homework to images of them in various stages of undress, and engaged in various acts extremely carnal in nature. In some of the pictures she’s noticed that Arnold’s face has either been removed or replaced. She tears one off the wall and looks at the face that replaces Arnold’s. 

“NO!” she screams as she drops the picture. She is shaking as she tries to fumble her cell phone out of her pants pocket. Dialing Arnold’s number she is maddened as her call is sent to voicemail. When she hears the final beep she is hysterical as she leaves her message. Unbeknownst to her the red lights cause interference making her message come out slightly garbled on the other end.

“Arnold! I told you! I told you I wasn’t imagining things. I did see someone at the window! Oh, Arnold, it’s awful. You need to come here, quick! Meet me at the boarding house. I’m scared, Arnold. I’m calling the poli………………………”

 

Part 3

Having stopped home to get his various developing supplies he makes his way to the apartment. He walks with determination, not stopping or veering from his course. As he reaches the building he looks up and notices the curtain that covers the window being blown by the breeze. He knows he’s shut the window tight and an alarm goes off in him. Being very careful to be as quiet as he can he climbs up to the window. Slipping inside he puts his packages on the floor and reaches into his backpack. Fishing his way to the very bottom he pulls out the gun that lays hidden there. He stands in silence straining his ears for any sound. He slowly walks towards the bedroom and sees the closet door slightly ajar, a flickering red glow emanating from it. He hears a voice and very slowly approaches the door. He quietly enters the darkroom unnoticed. He is stunned to see his secret love standing, looking at the wall of pictures. She is yelling hysterically into her phone.

“NO!” He thinks to himself, “It’s not supposed to be like this! She’s not supposed to be here!”

The voices in his head speak up. “What are you going to do about it?” They say. “You can’t let her get away now. Something needs to be done.”

He’s torn over what he must do and not thinking straight. On one hand that is the love of his life standing right before him. On the other she’s found him out and he needs to protect his secret. His instinct for survival wins out and he stealthily comes up behind her, glad she is so focused on the pictures and her phone call. He brings up the butt of the gun, slamming it down on the back of her head cutting her off mid-sentence. It dishevels the bow she wears and blood starts to ooze from the cut the gun makes. Her phone drops out of her hand as she falls to the floor.

Meanwhile Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe wait for Helga at the arcade. She’s a half an hour late and it’s not like her to not call. He’s tried calling her but he keeps getting directed to her voicemail. 

Arnold turns to Phoebe. “Are you sure she didn’t say where she was going or what she was doing?”

“No,” Phoebe answers, “She just sent me a text saying that she wasn’t going to the meeting. No explanation or anything.”

Arnold starts to worry when he notices that he had received a message. He figures it must have come in as he was trying to call Helga because he doesn’t remember his notifications going off.

He listens to it and hears Helga’s frantic voice in his ear. Between the noise of the arcade and the bad reception of her call he can’t make out what she’s saying. His friends see the worried look on his face and pump him for information.

“Is it Helga?” Phoebe asks, “Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know, I can’t make it out with all the noise in here. Come on, let’s go outside.”

Once they get to the sidewalk he replays the message putting it on speaker. It’s garbled and only portions of it come through.

“Arnold!..........told you………. imagining things……………. someone at the window!............ it’s awful….. need to…… quick! Meet…………. boarding house….. scared, Arnold….call………………………”

Arnold runs the message through his head. “The window? THE WINDOW!” He yells as he puts the pieces together. “Oh my God, Helga was right. Someone WAS at the window! Come on, we’ve got go!”

The three take off down the street towards the boarding house. 

 

Part 4

 

He stares at Helga’s fallen body and frantically tries to figure out what to do. It’s the voices that calm him.

“Calm down.” They say. “This is a good thing. She’s called to him and he will come to rescue her. This is your chance. You have a gun, right? Use it. But not here. The roof, take her to the roof. It will be harder to tell where the shot came from.”

“Yes,” he thinks, “the roof top. Of course.”

He scoops Helga up in his arms, throwing her over one shoulder. The top half of her body hangs limp down his back. It’s not easy but he gets her out the window onto the fire escape. As he climbs the stairs he doesn’t notice that her bow has fallen off and has landed precariously on one of the steps. 

Sitting in the middle of the roof top is a small room that contains the building’s inside stairwell. He takes Helga to it and lays her down by its outside wall. As he sits and waits for Arnold to arrive he looks at the sleeping girl. He reaches out and strokes her cheek.

“Soon there will be nothing standing in the way of you and me.” He whispers to her.

Shortly after, Arnold and his friends reach the boarding house. They stop to catch their breath. With his body bent and his hands on his knees a coughing fit comes over Arnold. It takes a minute for him to get it under control. He looks up and notices the window standing wide open. He points to it and motions for the others to follow him.

They climb the stairs and enter the small apartment. Arnold walks over to the chair and notices an old scarf of Helga’s. Panic starts to rise inside him. They scan the room and head towards the bedroom. They see the red light that still quivers from the closet and enter the small room. They are drawn to the images on the wall. They stare in disbelief as Helga’s life is lain out before them. They follow the timeline and out of respect for their friends Gerald and Phoebe divert their eyes when they come to its end. 

Arnold stands there with his fists clenched tight in rage. “That Bastard!” He says through gritted teeth, “I’m going to kill him!” He starts tearing the more explicit pictures off the wall and into little pieces. 

Phoebe spies Helga’s cell phone and picks it up. As she does so she points out a small pool of blood that had started to form on the floor. 

Fearful for Helga’s life they know they have to somehow find her. 

Arnold heads back out to the fire escape and as he stands waiting for his friends to join him a breeze comes up and blows Helga’s bow off the steps above him. It hits him on the chest and falls to his feet. He picks it up. There is a splatter of blood on it. Arnold’s anger makes his body shake now as he looks upwards.

“They’re on the roof.” He says, his voice still and quiet.

He looks to Phoebe. “Don’t follow us. Go to the boarding house and call the police. Tell them where we are. Stay there until this is over.”

Nodding her head Phoebe heads to the street, dialing the police as soon as her feet hit the sidewalk.

The two boys now look at each other, knowing what they must do. They swiftly take the stairs two at a time until they reach the top. 

As the two boys climb onto the roof he sees them. They start to advance towards him and when they get about half way Curly holds up the gun.

“Don’t come any further.” He commands.

The boys stop in their tracks. 

“You won’t shoot us.” Gerald yells.

“Can you be sure of that, Gerald? You have no part in this, if you were smart you’d turn around and leave.”

“I’m not abandoning my best friend.” Gerald says with full conviction in his voice.

“Suit yourself.” Curly says, then turns his attention towards Arnold.

“You, on the other hand, are just the man I want to see.”

“You’re crazy, you know that, right?” Arnold says as he takes a step towards the mad gunman.

“Oh, you have no idea my friend.” Curly says through a laugh. 

“Why are you doing this, and what is it you have against me?” Arnold asks while taking another step.

Curly’s eyes grow wide, a look of astonishment on his face and he begins to get hysterical.

“What do I have against you?” He screams,” I have everything against you! It’s because of you that I’ve never stood a chance with her.” Curly motions to Helga.

“For years I’ve loved her, but she would have nothing to do with any boy but you. And how did you treat her? You ignored her and avoided her. Then, just when there was hope that she was getting over you and that I’d finally have my chance, you decide you want her, taking her from me again.”

As he talks he doesn’t notice that Helga has started waking up. A quiet moan escapes her as her hand comes up to her head. Slowly she opens her eyes trying to figure out where she is. Finally getting her vision in focus she sees Curly standing in front of her, holding a gun on Arnold and Gerald. Arnold sees her, his eyes beckon her to keep still. Curly starts to turn towards Helga and Arnold takes another step towards him. Seeing this Curly brings his attention back to Arnold.

“If I were you I wouldn’t take another step.” Curly says.

Helga slowly starts easing herself up the wall she is leaning against as Arnold keeps Curly’s attention on him. 

“You don’t want to do this, Curly.” Arnold says as he follows Helga out of the corner of his eye. “You’ll just end up in prison and what good would that do you. Rotting away in a cell and you still won’t have Helga.”

“That may be so, but at least she will no longer be with you.”

Curly aims the gun now ready to shoot as Helga steps forward knocking his arm upward. The gun goes off into the air. As this happens Arnold charges with all his might. His head and shoulder connects with Curly’s stomach throwing him into the wall. Grabbing Curly by the collar he sends his fist into the stunned boy’s face. The crunch of Curly’s nose can be heard as the cartilage breaks from the blow. 

Arnold has lost it now and pummels Curly with blow after blow. It takes all of Gerald’s strength to pull him off of the beaten boy. 

Sirens can be heard now as Arnold stands over Curly’s crumpled body. 

As the police make their way to the roof top they find the four teenagers. Arnold holds Helga in his arms as they sit with their backs against the stairwell wall. Gerald stands over Curly keeping watch, making sure he doesn’t wake up.

Curly is eventually taken away in an ambulance while the others are brought to the police station to give their statements.

Arnold vows to himself to never underestimate Helga’s intuition again. 

 

Part 4

 

"Helga sits alone in the room as she waits for the detective to join her. She has been called on to identify her assailant. She is nervous and wishes they had let Arnold accompany her. She looks up and watches through the two way mirror as an officer walks Curly into the next room. He sits in the chair, his gaze never leaving his side of the mirror. She feels as if he knows she is in the other room and he’s purposely watching her. The stare is so intent it bores through her. He is in handcuffs and he holds his hands in his lap, hidden by the table that sits in front of him. The officer sits across from him. She watches as a smile starts to form on Curly’s mouth. This alarms her. She tries to call for help but sits paralyzed in her chair, unable to look away. Without warning Curly leaps up from his chair. He has a large knife in his hands and she has no idea how he came to have it. He dives across the table slashing at the officer’s neck with one long motion, his hands still handcuffed together. The cut goes from one side of the officer’s neck to the other. Blood starts to shoot out following the rhythm of the dying man’s heart. It splashes on the mirror and covers Curly’s face. He laughs manically now as he puts down the knife and picks up a chair, throwing it into the mirrored glass. The glass shatters on his side of the room and she loses the image. Another throw of the chair and the mirror on her side vibrates from the blow. She runs screaming for the door but is in too shocked of a state to get her hands to work it open. With a third blow of the chair the glass shatters on her side and she stands paralyzed as Curly falls through the opening. The shards of glass causing deep cuts to his body and face. He gets up, his hands still locked in front of him, and slowly walks towards her. His breathing is heavy as he laughs that manic laugh. He stands in front of her now, his blood soaked face inches from hers as he takes the knife he once again holds and plunges it deep into her stomach."

She bolts upright in Arnold’s bed, screaming. Still caught up in the nightmare. Tears stream down her face. Arnold is jolted awake by her screams and reaches out for her, holding her in a tight embrace. Whispering in her ear that it’s okay, it’s just another dream. Reaching for the shelf behind him he hands her a pill that her doctor has prescribed for times like this, and a glass of water. She takes the pill and it takes almost an hour this time for it to take effect. Finally calm, he lays back down with her. Her shaking has stopped and her breathing becomes regular. She closes her eyes and he lays holding her as he looks up to his windowed ceiling. His eyes cast out to the boarded up window that peers down on them. 

In a padded cell in another state Curly sits on the floor. He’s said nothing since being brought to the facility. The voices in his head come nearly every day now. Tonight they are particularly loud.

“Possible parole in twenty years.” They say. “That’s not so long, just do as they say, be the perfect inmate. You’ll still have plenty of life left in you when you get out. And with good behavior who knows, it could be even sooner.”

The thought brings a smile to his face.

 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go. I hope you enjoyed this story and that it wasn’t too anticlimactic for you. I loved hearing all your theories. I considered them NOT being in Arnold’s room at the end because of how that would just be too traumatic for Helga but I kind of liked the creepiness of it, having that boarded up window looking down at Arnold, a constant reminder. Now I want to get a little M. Night Shyamalan on you and talk about those hints I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. If you’ll notice, the very first letter of the very first word of each of the five chapters starts with a letter of the villain’s name. I tried to make the letters a lot larger than the rest of the print but I guess Arcive doesn’t support really big font because on my computer at least the letters didn’t look any bigger. I loved how it all fit together, 5 weeks in October, 5 letters in his name, 5 chapters to the story. Just something that I thought was fun and wanted to point out. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. I really do hope you found it creepy. I invite you now to take a gander of some of the other stuff I’ve written if you haven’t already, and if you do, I hope you like it. If you do like what you read, please let me know. 


End file.
